Carlisle, the longtime head coach of the 2011 champion Dallas Mavericks, took two timeouts late in his team’s 120-89 blowout home loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night, despite the fact that his team was, technically, out of timeouts.

As a result, a technical foul was called – resulting in a free throw each time for the Kings, and a $2000 fine for the team. Via Tim Cato at Mavs Moneyball, here is Carlisle explaining the tactic on Thursday following Dallas practice:

Carmelo Anthony might have it up to here with Phil Jackson at this point. We’re not sure. There’s always a release valve, with Carmelo, and it involves his ability to play for the team he wants, in the city he wants, and for as much money as possible.

Phil Jackson, in ways that are becoming clearer and clearer to everyone but Phil Jackson (given the boot prints on his most recent trails) has less and less to do bothering Carmelo Anthony to a point of distraction. The Knicks superstar forward just doesn’t appear to worry himself too unduly with the work of the Knicks’ president, and Wednesday’s movement seems like enough exhibition for us to sign off on things.

“I don’t want to answer those questions,” Anthony said after the Knicks’ 126-94 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night.

Back in October of 2013, the Philadelphia 76ers waived Royce White just before the start of the season rather than carry him on their all-but-talent-devoid roster. When the hammer fell, my colleague Eric Freeman suggested that the former Iowa State standout and 2012 first-round draft pick — whose professional career to that point had been more hypothetical than practical, owing to repeated disagreements with the Houston Rockets over how to address and manage his generalized anxiety disorder — might need to take a step back before he could take a step forward:

After a few weeks of growing pains, the Golden State Warriors have rounded into the elite form that many expected they would find when they signed Kevin Durant this summer. The last week alone has brought several impressive blowouts, if also a loss that shows they still have plenty of room to grow. While the Warriors are clearly not unbeatable, they also seem to have a much greater margin for error than any other team in the league.

The Cleveland Cavaliers barely broke a sweat in dismantling the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, leading by double-figures for the entire second half and by as many as 34 as they cruised to their East-leading 15th victory of the season. With the game well in hand before the start of the fourth quarter, the Cavs’ top guns — LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson — spent the bulk of the final frame chilling on the bench, looking for something more interesting than garbage time to occupy their minds.

LeBron James said Monday that he had no interest in a face-to-face conversation with New York Knicks team president Phil Jackson to hash out their differences over Jackson using the term “posse” to refer to James’ friends and business partners. No matter. Come Wednesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar let his game speak loudly enough for everyone to hear, using his titanic talents not to put the controversy to rest, but rather to put Jackson’s Knicks to bed nice and early.

The No. 3 pick in the 2016 NBA draft out of Cal had shown flashes of explosive excellence early in his rookie year, and made a point of announcing his presence with authority early in the second quarter at Amway Center.

Unfortunately for Vucevic, that announcement came attached to an off-hand straight to the big man’s face, which might have helped explain why Nik doubled over there after the moment of impact:

Nikola Vucevic appeared to get poked in the eye as Jaylen Brown elevated for the highlight-reel dunk. The Magic had to take a timeout.

That sure was a crazy and surprising thing that — hang on, let me double-check … yep — actually happened last month. If you found yourself taken aback by Aubrey’s public display of affection, you’re not the only one, as Burke relayed during a Wednesday morning visit to ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” radio show.

And yet, Burke didn’t waste much time that night responding to Drake’s dinner invitation:

The legal use of marijuana, whether it be medicinally or recreationally, is gaining steam in the NBA.

First, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted last week to using legally prescribed marijuana during his recovery from a 2015 back surgery, questioning how a league could encourage prescription painkiller use for players healing from injury while listing marijuana among its banned substances.

Now, New York Knicks president Phil Jackson has followed Kerr’s admission with tales of recreational marijuana use during his own recovery from back surgery as a player in 1969, suggesting the recent legalization of cannabis in several states will force the NBA to address a rule now in conflict with law.